Reel mechanism for feeding sewer cleaning tool drive rod with free-wheeling anchorage of drive rod to reel



Dec. 14, 1965 P. CIACCIO 3,222,704

REEL. MECHANISM FOR FEEDING sEwER CLEANING TOOL DRIVE ROD WITHFREE-WHEELING ANCHORAGE OF DRIVE ROD T0 REEL Flled July 15, 1963 a E/PL. /9600,

Jvravme r6? Q 51w United States Patent 3,222,704 REEL MECHANISM FDRFEEDING SEWER CLEAN. ING TOUL DREVE R01) WITH FREE-WHEELING ANCHQRAGE GFDRIVE ROI) TU) REEL Peter L. Ciaceio, Culver City, Calif, assignor toFlexible Manufacturing Corporation, Culver City, Caiif, a corporation ofCalifornia Fiied .iuly 15, 1963, Ser. No. 295,124

2 Claims. (Cl. 15104.3)

This invention relates to drive rod reel feed mechanism of the typedisclosed in my pending application S.N. 174,547, now Patent No.3,120,017.

The general object of the invention is to provide a rod storage and feedreel of enlarged capacity, adapted for satisfactory handling of driverod having a total length in the range from 500 feet to 1,000 feet ormore.

Reel-feed mechanism of this type, having a capacity in the range from200 to 500 feet of drive rod, has come into fairly extensive use, andthere is now an increasing demand for such apparatus having a capacityof more than 500 feet. The operation of such machines where the totallength of drive rod being handled was less than 400 feet, has been foundquite satisfactory. However, in machines of larger capacity, handlinggreater length of drive rod in the range between 400 and 600 feet,difficulty has been encountered in maintaining the position of thecoiled drive rod within the reel. This diificulty is characterized bythe forward displacement of the coils of rod stored within the reel,resulting in tangling of the coils in a manner such as to block thefeeding of the rod, especially when the rod is being fed forwardly outof the reel.

In months of study of this problem by field operators, no reason wasfound why the coils of rod would become loosened and drop forwardly intotangled condition whereas in the older machines, handling the drive rodof shorter total length, the stored coils would remain snugly inposition against the confining peripheral portion of the reel.

After several months of unsuccessful attempts to have the problemssolved in a machine in the field, I arranged to have the machinereturned to the factory and after studying its operation for some time,it occurred to me that the difficulty might be the result of rotarymomentum in the coils causing them to contract and release their gripupon the peripheral internal surfaces of the reel so as to be leftwithout support when the reel came to a standstill, and, thusunsupported, would topple forwardly sufliciently to establish thetangled condition. Pursuing this concept, I discoveerd that by providinga freely rotatable anchorage of the tethered end of the drive rod to theback of the reel, the difficulty was eliminated and the coils remainedin fixed positions within the reel, thus solving the problem.

Pursuant to the foregoing, the invention embraces the following objects:

(1) To provide an improved rod-feeding reel in combination with a coileddrive rod having a tethered end anchored to the reel by means of aconnection freely rotatable about the axis of the reel.

(2) To provide such a reel and rod combination, in which the anchoredend of the drive rod is disposed nearer to the periphery than to theaxis of the reel and is orbitally movable about said axis.

(3) To provide such a reel, wherein said freely rotatable anchorage isdisposed adjacent the back of the reel and does not obstruct any portionof the storage space within the reel.

(4) To provide an improved rod-feeding reel embodying a drive rodanchorage element providing a tethering connection between the reel andan end of a drive rod, said anchorage element providing for free orbitalmovement of said tethering connection in a circular orbit around thereel axis adjacent the periphery and the back of the reel.

(5 To provide such a reel wherein said anchorage element is relativelysimple and inexpensive yet completely reliable and durable underextended service conditions.

(6) To provide a drive rod feed reel having considerably increasedcapacity for handling greater lengths of drive rod with freedom from thedifiiculty of having the coils of rod become loose in the reel, droppingforwardly and consequently becoming tangled.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the ensuringspecification and appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the principal portions of a rod-feedingmachine embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary axial sectional view of the rear end of the reelof such machine, showing my improved orbital rod anchorage;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the same taken on the line 3-3of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary detail sectional view of .a peripheral sectionof the reel including the floating rod anchorage.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, I have shown therein, as anexample of one form in which the invention may be embodied, a sewer toolrodding machine embodying, in general, a length of drive rod A which isnormally stored, in the form of a plurality of coils, in a reel B ofconical cage form, in a storage chamber provided within the rear portionof the reel where it is at maximum diameter. 'As the guide rod A isprojected from the reel and retracted into the reel, it passes through aguide nozzle C which guides it from the storage chamber of the reel tothe rotational axis of the reel, and vice versa. The reel B is mountedfor rotation upon a support at the rear end of a wheel-mounted trailertruck D on which the machine is transported to and from a job. Themachine further includes suitable rod-feeding apparatus E which may beany one of several types which have been found suitable for feedingdrive rod in this type of machine. The machine further includes anengine or motor (not shown) for power; drive transmission mechanism Ffor transmitting the power to the reel B for rotating the reel; othersuitable drive transmission means (not shown) for transmitting power tothe feed apparatus E; and suitable control means G for controlling thetransmission of rotation to reel B and the braking of the reel.

Drive Rod A.-As disclosed, is of a type comprising a plurality ofsections 10 joined end-to-end by a series of threaded couplings 11. Thistype is shown for the reason that a machine equipped with the particulartype of feed apparatus E shown herein, is especially adapted for thehandling of jointed drive rod. It is to be understood however that theinvention is equally applicable to the handling of continuous drive rod,in which event the machine would be equipped with a different type ofrod feeding unit, especially adapted for gripping the smooth continuousrod.

Reel B. Comprises a hub 13 which is rotatably mounted upon a shaft 14(FIG. 2) the rear end of which is rigidly supported by the top of anA-frame bracket 15 mounted on the rear end of chassis D. The cagestructure of reel B includes a back spider 16 consisting of an array ofspokes radiating from the hub 13, a frusto-conical array of forwardlyconverging peripheral bars 17 which can be formed integrally with andbent forwardly at 16 from the outer ends of spokes 16, a conical arrayof forwardly converging body bars 18 constituting the intermediate bodyof the reel, a corresponding cylindrical array of bars 19 bent forwardlyfrom the forward ends of body bars 18 and collectively constituting aforward neck portion of the reel cage; and a plurality of spacer hoopsincluding those indicated at 20, 21 and 22, suitably connected to thebars 17, 18 and 19 (as by welding) and securing them incircumferentially-spaced relation. At its forward end, neck 19 has asuitable hub having a brake drum 23 as its periphery and having in itscenter a tubular guide throat 24 through which the guide rod A passes tothe feed unit E, the forward end of this guide throat being journalledin a pillow block bearing 25 carried by the chassis D.

In the rear end of the reel, the invention provides a floatingrod-anchor ring 26 having a tethering connection 27 to the rear end ofthe drive rod A. The anchor ring 26 is rotatably nested within thecircular array of bends 16 integrally joining the peripheral cage rods17 to the spokes 16.

The bends 16' collectively constitute a bearing in which the peripheryof the anchor ring 26 is journalled for rotation about the reel axis.Since the peripheral bars 17 of the reel cage converge forwardly, theyfunction to retain the anchor ring 26 against forward displacement,while the spokes 16 collectively constitute a flat bearing which retainsthe ring 26 against rearward displacement. Thus the ring is confinedloosely for rotation in a plane just forwardly of the plane of thespokes 16, and no bearing or retainer means other than the array ofbends 16' is required for this purpose. Sufficient clearance between thering 26 and the bends 16 is provided, so that the ring is looselyretained and therefore freely rotatable in the reel.

The tethering connection 27 (FIG. 4) comprises a short block secured, asby welding at 28 to the inner side of anchor ring 26, projectinggenerally radially inwardly therefrom but with a diagonally forwardinclination such as to position the anchored end of drive rod inforwardly spaced relation to the plane of spokes 16. A bore 29, parallelto the adjacent portion of anchor rod 26, is provided in the inner endof the block 27. Such inner end, in effect, constitutes a sleeve. Theend of drive rod 10 is inserted into the bore 29 and is anchored tosleeve 27 by a swiveling connection, being freely rotatable in the bore29, and is retained against axial shifting movement in the bore 29 byabutment collars 31 fixed (as by pins 30) to the drive rod in positionsabutting the respective ends of the sleeve 27.

A reel storage chamber 35 is defined in the peripheral area of the largeend of reel B. The periphery of chamber 35 is defined by the forwardlyconverging peripheral rods 17. The back of the chamber is defined by theouter end portions of spokes 16. The bottom or inward extremity of thestorage chamber is defined by a number of parallel bars 36 having rearends secured at 37 to the spokes 16 and having forward ends secured to amouth ring 38 by means of radial spokes 39 formed as inwardly bentcontinuations of their forward ends, the inner ends of spokes 39 beingsuitably secured to the hub 13. The forward side of storage chamber 35is defined by an array of substantially radial arms 40 of a plurality ofabutment elbows 41 secured to and bridging between the body bars 18 andthe peripheral bars 17 of the reel cage, the elbows 41 being spacedradially outwardly from the mouth ring 38 so as to collectively definean annular open mouth 42 for the forward side of storage chamber 35,immediately surrounding the mouth ring 38. The mouth 42 provides for thepassage of the drive rod out of and into the storage chamber 35. So longas the coils of drive rod within the chamber are sufficiently expandedto maintain the outer coils snugly in engagement with the peripheralrods 17 and the inner coils snugly coiled against the outer coils asindicated in FIG. 2, they will be adequately retained in the chamber 25by the abutment arms 40 of elbows 41, and an orderly array of coils,from which an inner coil can be smoothly drawn through the mouth 42 intothe guide nozzle C, will be maintained.

Guide Nozzle C.Comprises a tube 50 of broadly curved elbow formsupported by a radial arm 51 the inner end of which has a hub 52 bymeans of which it is mounted for free rotation on the forward end ofshaft 4 14 or reel hub 13. Tube 50 and arm 51 are counterweighted by aradially projecting weight 53 secured to the opposite side of hub 52.The inner end of guide tube 50 approaches tangency with the reel axis soas to guide the rod A into the guide throat 24.

Trailer Truck D.Comprises a platform 55 having the A-frame bracket 15secured to its rear end and having supported on its intermediate portiona bench-like frame 56 which supports the pillow block bearing 25 and thefeed mechanism E.

Drive Mechanism E.The specific features of which form no part of thepresent invention, may include an endless chain or chains 60 travelingon sprockets 61 journalled in suitable frame-supported brackets 62 andhaving drive yokes 63 for engaging the drive rod couplings 11 along thereel axis and moving the rod linearly either in forward feed orretracting direction depending upon the direction in which the chain 60is driven. It will be understood that the drive to the chain, not shownherein, will be a reversible drive to provide for the two directions offeed. A more complete disclosure of this feed apparatus may be found inmy above identified co-pending application S.N. 174,547, now Patent No.3,120,017.

Drive Transmission Mechanism F .May include a suitable drive, such as abelt drive 65, to a reduction gear unit 66 from which a belt drive 67may transmit the drive to the forward hub of the reel B. Suitablereversing mechanism (not shown) may provide for transmitting the drivein both forward and reverse directions. Rotation of the reel may bearrested by a brake band 68 operating on the brake drum 23.

Control Mechanism G.May include a suitable belt tightener 69 on the endof a tubular rock shaft 70 journalled in suitable bearings 71 on thebench frame 56 and actuated by a lever 72 to swing the arm of tightener61 toward or away from the belt 67. Brake band 68 may be actuated by atightening device 75 on the end of a rock shaft 76 extending through andjournalled in the tubular shaft 70 and having at its rear end a controllever 77. Thus, there is provided in the machine a mean-s forestablishing and releasing drive from a suitable motor to the reel andat the same time provision is made for braking the reel.

In general, the operation of this type of rod-feeding machine utilizesthe rotation of the reel B to effect rotation of the drive rod A so thata tool carried by its forward end may be rotated within a sewer pipe forcleaning accumulated debris therefrom; Whereas the feed unit E isutilized to advance the drive rod A linearly into the sewer pipe and toretract it from the pipe, as operating conditions may dictate.

In the operation of the machine, when a cleaning tool is being rotatedwithin a sewer pipe, it is necessary for the reel B to rotate at thespeed of rotation which has been selected for the operation of the tool.Where four or five hundred feet of drive rod are stored within therelatively large diameter rear end of the reel B the mass of storedcoils, when rotating with the reel, will constitute, in effect, arelatively large diameter fly wheel of very considerable weight, acorresponding fly wheel effect (rotary momentum) of correspondinglylarge value. In this type of machine, up to the present time, the rearend of the drive rod has always been anchored to the reel B with a fixedconnection requiring that this end of the rod always rotate with thereel and stop with the reel, in full synchronism with the reel and itsrotary movement. When the drive rod is being fed forwardly into a sewer,it is drawn forwardly through the guide nozzle C by the feedingapparatus E, and the nozzle C, which is freely rotatable about the reelaxis, is permitted to rotate so as to follow the orbiting path ofmovement of that portion of the drive rod which is entering the nozzle,as successive coils of rod are drawn out of the storage chamber of thereel. Conversely, when thedrive rod is being retracted into the reel, itwill be pushed rearwardly through the nozzle C by the reverselyoperating feed apparatus E, and the nozzle C will rotate in the reversedirection to follow the portion of the guide rod which is issuing fromthe rear end of the nozzle and being pushed into the storage chamber 35of the reel and laid in successive coils against the inner peripheralsurfaces of the storage chamber.

The outward and rearward divergence of peripheral rods 17 causes thecoils to pack toward the rear end of the storage chamber 35, thesucceeding coils tending to build forwardly against more rearward coilsand inwardly against the outer coils. So long as these coils are snuglyexpanded against the peripheral rods 17 and against one another, theywill be securely held against forward displacement, since the rearwardcoils are of larger diameter than the forward coils and would have to becontracted in diameter in order to move forwardly.

It now appears that the difficulty referred to above wherein coils wouldloosen and become tangled, was the result of rotary momentum causingsome of the coils to shift circumferentially during a period of brakingthe reel to a stop. Since the rear end of the drive rod was anchored infixed relation to the reel, such circumferential shifting of coils wouldcause them to wind like a clock spring, resulting in the contraction ofthe shifting coils to smaller diameter. Thus they became loosened fromthe adjacent coils disposed outwardly and rearwardly or" theirpositions, and, losing the support of these coils, would toppleforwardly into the mouth 42 and become tangled with the foremost coilwhich, in the portion thereof entering the nozzle tube 50, would be heldby the tube in a substantially fixed position.

The invention has solved this problem by providing a floating anchoragefor the rear end of the drive rod, such that, whenever the fly-wheeleffect of the coiled body of rod causes it to shift circumferentially inthe reel when the latter is being braked, the coiled body of rod will bepermitted to rotate as a unit without winding up the inner coils, andthe coiled body will therefore remain securely contained in theperiphery of the chamber 35.

In the operation of the apparatus, the feed mechanism E is. driven forfeeding the drive rod A, and the tool secured to its forward end, into asewer to a point where cleaning is to commence. At this point, the reelB is rotated for transmitting rotation through the drive rod to thecleaning tool in the proper direction for effecting the intendedoperation of the tool. Ordinarily, while the tool is being retractedfrom the sewer, such rotation is continued in the same rotationaldirection as when the tool is being fed into the sewer. It is to beunderstood that the cleaning tool and the driving reel can be designedfor either counterclockwise or clockwise rotation (e.g. as viewed by theoperator standing behind the machine and facing toward the machine andthe manhole through which the cleaning operation is being effected) thedirection of rotation being a matter of choice of the manufacture of theapparatus. In the embodiment shown herein, the parts are designed andarranged for clockwise rotation as viewed from behind the machine, thisdirection being indicated by the arrows 1'75 in FIGS. 1 and 3 (in whichthe reel is seen from its forward side rather than from behind, so thatthe arrows seem to be indicating counterclockwise rotation).

The direction of coiling of the guide rod within the reel is related tothe direction of driving rotation in a manner such that the rotation ofthe reel tends to push the drive rod into the guide nozzle C rather thanto withdraw it from the nozzle, so that in the event that the forwardadvance of the tool in the sewer is blocked by an obstruction, therotational driving force of the reel tends to force the drive rodforwardly and thereby to push the tool through the obstruction.Consequently, one of the major aspects of the problem dealt with by theinvention, is the tendency of the coils of drive rod forwardly of theanchoring connection to continue rotating under the driving force oftheir rotary momentum in a direction which is so related to thedirection of winding of the coils in the reel that these forward coils.tend to wind up like a clock spring and to consequently contract indiameter, when the mass of coils tends to rotate ahead of the reel (aswhen the reel tends for any reason to slow down its speed of rotation).

I claim:

1. In combination: a drive rod reel cage comprising a plurality ofcircumferentially-spaced peripheral rods and a plurality of spokesdefining the peniphery and back of a storage chamber respectively, anannular series of arcuate bends integrally joining the rear ends of saidperipheral rods to the outer ends of respective spokes and collectivelydefining an annular internal peripheral back corner in said reel, andmeans cooperating with said spokes and peripheral rods to define anannular peripheral storage chamber in which a tool-driving rod may bestored in the form of a plurality of coils laid internally against saidperipheral rods, said storage chamber having, in its radially inwardforward area, an annular mouth through which the drive rod may beprojetced from the chamber and retracted into the chamber; a circularanchor ring of round cross-section freely rotatable in said annularcorner within said chamber and having slidable bearing engagement withsaid arcuate bends; and an anchoring connection between the rear end ofsaid drive rod and said anchor ring, said connection being freelymovable in orbital path in said chamber as the result of freerotatability of said anchor ring; and fixed connection comprising ablock secured to said ring and projecting diagonally forwardly andtoward said axis, said block having a bore parallel to the adjacentportion of said ring, said drive rod having a swivelling mounting insaid bore; and abutment means secured to said drive rod and abuttingrespective ends of said block so as to anchor said drive rod to saidsleeve.

2. In combination, a drive rod for rotatably driving a sewer cleaningtool; a reel for storing and rotating said drive rod; means mountingsaid reel for rotation on a horizontal axis; said reel including meansdefining an annular storage chamber at its periphery and at its rearend, and means for guiding the drive rod through its front end; ananchor ring disposed within the back peripheral area of said chamber,concentric with said horizontal axis; said reel including meansretaining said anchor ring against forward displacement from said backperipheral area; said anchor ring providing a tethering connectionbetween said reel and the rear end of said drive rod, and being freelymovable circumferentially within said chamber; said reel being of cagestructure comprising a back member and a plurality ofcircumferentially-spaced peripheral elements projecting forwardlytherefrom, said back member and peripheral elements cooperativelydefining a back peripheral corner of said reel chamber in which saidanchor ring is disposed, and said peripheral elements having portionsforwardly overhanging said anchor ring and constituting said retainingmeans; and a connector block secured to said anchor ring and projectingdiagonally forwardly and inwardly, said block having a bore extendingparallel to the adjacent portion of said ring, said drive rod beingrotatably mounted in said bore to provide a swivelling connectionbetween the drive rod and said ring and having at its end a headabutting said block to anchor the drive rod to said ring.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,102,917 12/1937Rolland 14-104.03 2,282,600 5/1942 Blanc 15-10403 2,557,119 6/1951Kjerulff 15-104.03 X 3,039,715 6/1962 Caperton 15-1043 X 3,071,7941/1963 Prange 15--104.3 3,130,432 4/1964 Prange 15-104.3

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A COMBINATION: A DRIVE ROD REEL CAGE COMPRISING A PLURALITY OFCIRCUMFERENTIALLY-SPACED PERIPHERAL RODS AND A PLURALITY OF SPOKESDEFINING THE PERIPHERY AND BACK OF A STORAGE CHAMBER RESPECTIVELY, ANANNULAR SERIES OF ARCUATE BENDS INTEGRALLY JOINING THE REAR ENDS OF SAIDPERIPHERAL RODS TO THE OUTER ENDS OF RESPECTIVE SPOKES AND COLLECTIVELYDEFINING AN ANNULAR INTERNAL PERIPHERAL BACK CORNER IN SAID REEL, ANDMEANS COOPERATING WITH SAID SPOKES AND PERIPHERAL RODS TO DEFINE ANANNULAR PERIPHERAL STORAGE CHAMBER IN WHICH A TOOL-DRIVING ROD MAY BESTORED IN THE FORM OF A PLURALITY OF COILS LAID INTERNALLY AGAINST SAIDPERIPHERAL RODS, SAID STORAGE CHAMBER HAVING, IN ITS RADIALLY INWARDFORWARD AREA, AN ANNULAR MOUTH THROUGH WHICH THE DRIVE ROD MAY BEPROJECTED FROM THE CHAMBER AND RETRACTED INTO THE CHAMBER; A CIRCULARANCHOR RING OF ROUND CROSS-SECTION FREELY ROTATABLE IN SAID ANNULAR COR-